Christian Vegetarian Association Presents:

Take
Heart!

The Way We Perceive Others Affects How We Treat Them

This is a
fascinating article about human psychology and meat-eating. It turns
out that studies suggest that the more we dehumanize people the more
willing we are to mistreat them and the same can be applied to
animals.

The more superior we feel toward an animal the more willing
we are to exploit him/her; therefore, we pet some and eat others.

Ideology and party affiliation seems to affect this as well: “Two
recent studies demonstrate that right-wing adherents consume more
meat and exploit animals more for two main reasons: (a) they push
back against the threat that vegetarianism and veganism supposedly
pose to traditions and cultural practice, and (b) they feel more
entitled to consume animals given human “superiority””.

The way we perceive others, human and nonhuman, surely affects
the way we treat them. If we realized that we are all connected at
the deepest level because we all share the same essence of God’s
love, we wouldn’t support the hurting or killing of others
willingly, as it is in the case of meat-eating.